Reimagining scheduling: balancing efficiency and usability

Reimagining scheduling: balancing efficiency and usability

Reimagining scheduling: balancing efficiency and usability

‍How could we use scheduling to prioritize consistent ongoing care for members while also increasing coach/therapist efficiency and satisfaction?

‍How could we use scheduling to prioritize consistent ongoing care for members while also increasing coach/therapist efficiency and satisfaction?

‍How could we use scheduling to prioritize consistent ongoing care for members while also increasing coach/therapist efficiency and satisfaction?

CLIENT
Brightline
Brightline
TIMELINE
6 Months
6 Months
ROLE
Lead designer
with 2 Eng + 1 PM
Lead designer with 2 Eng + 1 PM
[Collaborated with Product, Engineering, Clinical, Care ops, Member support, Data science, UX research]
[Collaborated with Product, Engineering, Clinical, Care ops, Member support, Data science, UX research]
CHALLENGE

Inefficient scheduling practices result in poor member experience, provider burnout, and non-scalable workflows.

SOLUTION

Slot-based scheduling protects member time and upgrades the member experience to have a consistent ongoing time. It also allows coaches and therapists (providers) to have visibility into their templates and book within that structure.

IMPACT

A 40% drop in back-and-forth communication between providers and Member Support and an increase up to 5% in provider utilization.

Expand the prototype (

Expand the prototype (

) to check out the final flow

) to check out the final flow

Define

Problem

Members struggled to find consistent ongoing availability with a provider that met their needs. Member cancelations created gaps in provider calendars which led to inconsistent availability that was often difficult to refill.


Providers, on the other hand, managed their caseload manually and did not know how to optimally book care to maximize their schedule while ensuring sustainable days. Back-to-back sessions and the desire to accommodate members led to provider burnout.


To meet the high demand of members, the business needed to optimize provider calendars and give them the tools to increase the chances of delivering care.

Approach

Providers used our existing recurring scheduling tool which was a decent foundation, but there were still major gaps:

• Providers didn’t have full visibility of their cases that week

• There was no protection of member time

• Member Support was brought in to resolve any scheduling conflicts


How could we solve for those gaps?

Original recurring scheduling tool

Wireframe of new scheduling tool

In the beginning, it seemed like this project would be straightforward. I integrated that wireframe with our existing recurring scheduling tool as a starting point. This new view had the visibility into booked sessions and scheduling conflicts wouldn’t matter because one could just book at another time.

How hard could this be?

In the beginning, it seemed like this project would be straightforward. I integrated that wireframe with our existing recurring scheduling tool as a starting point. This new view had the visibility into booked sessions and scheduling conflicts wouldn’t matter because one could just book at another time.

How hard could this be?

First iteration of slots

Other launches at this time

We needed to be mindful of any additional changes to provider workflows especially since the migration of a new EHR tool (Electronic Health Records or a digital record system of our members) and the launch of a significant partnership with the California Department of Health Care Services were happening around the same time that we planned to roll this out.

Scheduling is complicated.

Scheduling is complicated.

Ideate

Weekly working group sessions with cross-functional teams took us deep into the weeds to solve for myriad use cases and juggled our member experience, provider experience, and business needs.

A few questions...

We were running in circles around so many questions including:

  • How long could we “hold” future sessions beyond what was confirmed to protect that member’s slot?

  • How would slots differ between therapy and coaching?

  • How do we layer the newly-launched provider template into this view from a UI perspective?

  • How would conflicts affect the availability of a slot?

I evolved the designs as we further understood and defined each aspect and after 4 insightful user feedback sessions. How could we make this complicated system intuitive and simple for providers while still providing value?

I evolved the designs as we further understood and defined each aspect and after 4 insightful user feedback sessions. How could we make this complicated system intuitive and simple for providers while still providing value?

Final design - Recurring time slot page

I also revamped the Appointments overview page to align with the new slots framework:

I also revamped the Appointments overview page to align with the new slots framework:

Original Appointments page

Final design - Appointments page

Pilot

Our first pilot with 8 therapists and 2 Member Support members over the course of 8 weeks confirmed what we thought.

Insights

Overall, the pilot was a success.

  • 100% rated the new slots tool 8+ on a 0-10 scale (10 being easiest to use)

  • 90% of eligible cases booked via new slots tool (up 15% from our goal of 75%)

Definitely easier to navigate than the old version

Definitely easier to navigate than the old version

— Therapist

— Therapist

Seeing what slots are available with a provider’s template and different timezones is very intuitive”

Seeing what slots are available with a provider’s template and different timezones is very intuitive”

— Member support specialist

— Member support specialist

Feedback

From a provider’s perspective, the more information they had, the better. I had simplified my original design, but with this feedback, it made sense to add select elements back in.


Providers also didn’t have full visibility of their cases at a high level because the slots tool was buried within a specific care case. The request to be able to see their template and who was actually booked led us to an add-on project, the caseload view.

Our earlier feedback sessions with therapists were advantageous as nothing too shocking arose during this pilot. I tweaked the designs, and we adapted the guidelines for coaches for their pilot.

Our earlier feedback sessions with therapists were advantageous as nothing too shocking arose during this pilot. I tweaked the designs, and we adapted the guidelines for coaches for their pilot.

Our earlier feedback sessions with therapists were advantageous as nothing too shocking arose during this pilot. I tweaked the designs, and we adapted the guidelines for coaches for their pilot.

Impact

Recurring time slots not only protects member time and upgrades the member experience to have a consistent ongoing time, but it also allows providers to have visibility into their templates and book within that structure.

Success

  • 40% drop in back-and-forth communication between providers and Member Support

  • Up to 5% increase in provider utilization

Slots is just one piece of the puzzle

While there was some success of this project, we knew it was just one part of the whole picture.

  • Off-peak hours are still not filled - members just don’t want those times

  • There is less availability since the launch due to another company initiative partnership

  • Complex custody arrangements + consent requirements prove to be a significant barrier to continuing care


The data did not account for member satisfaction.

Reflection

This was a complicated business initiative of which I’m proud to be a part. The competing priorities of the provider, member, and business was a delicate balance with multiple complexities. Not only were the concepts difficult to grasp with every nuanced use case, but I also joined this new team midway through the project.


If given additional time and resources, I'd love to see member reactions and feedback to this updated framework guaranteeing a weekly slot for their sessions.

Other impactful projects:
Evolus Portal
Enabling content engagement to deliver better care
© 2024 LING U
© 2024 LING U
© 2024 LING U